Topic: General

After fulfilling a $1 million crowd-funding campaign for a debut security camera, shipping a second, and announcing a third Blink has been bought by Amazon for undisclosed terms, likely dashing any hopes for HomeKit integration.

Although the issue has been patched through Microsoft's Fall Creators Update, outdated versions of Windows 10's Hello facial recognition can be spoofed with a photo, a German security firm said this week.

Virtual and augmented reality company Magic Leap has taken the lid off the project that is has been working on for the last seven years, and has debuted the Magic Leap One Lightwear goggles and required wearable computer, with the set to ship at some point in 2018.

Apple on Tuesday previewed plans for a huge global flagship store set for construction in Melbourne, Australia's Federation Square, a cultural hub that acts as a home to multiple museums, art galleries and eateries.

Following revelations that Apple's India chief Sanjay Kaul has stepped down, a report on Tuesday claims the company is replacing the executive with another country head formerly in charge of South Asia operations.

A rumored YouTube music service could be closer to fruition, thanks to new long-term agreements the Google-owned company has reportedly signed with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, joining a Warner Music Group deal signed in May.

Even though Apple struggles to keep up with demand for the current AirPods design, the company may be working on hardware improvements to debut in the second half of 2018, according to well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

This week, the Federal Communications Commission rolled back net neutrality rules, sparking a firestorm of debate and speculation over the future of the internet in the U.S. But Apple, who supports net neutrality, finds itself in a unique position in the discussion: It is one of the few companies that has actually been affected by the kind of restrictive internet provider practices that net neutrality aimed to prevent.

Apple was one of a number of parties that fought the repeal of net neutrality protections, originally instituted in 2015 during the Obama administration. The company has a lot of pragmatic reasons for taking a pro-neutrality stance.

The European Union's General Court has refused a U.S. government request to intervene in Apple's appeal of a 2016 European Commission ruling, which ordered Ireland to collect approximately $15.3 billion in back taxes from the company.

This week on the AppleInsider podcast, Neil and Victor talk about the powerful iMac Pro and its custom T2 chip, GymKit and the opening up of NFC connectivity, and Jony Ive's return to focusing on product design.

According to a report on Thursday, Samsung's smart home speaker is expected to debut in the first half of 2018 with support for the firm's Bixby virtual assistant, setting the device up for direct competition with Apple's delayed HomePod.

Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue will be making the rounds early next year when he takes part in a live Q&A session at Pollstar Live! 2018, an annual conference serving concert industry professionals.

Apple made good on promises to launch an iTunes podcast analytics service on Thursday with a new iTunes Connect beta feature dedicated to tracking granular listener data, though the service is limited to iOS 11 devices.